Study Guide

• Types of competition


  • Interspecific
  • Intraspecific
• Biotic limiting factor


  Competition for food, nesting areas, mates
• Factors that affect ecosystem growth

  • Density dependent factors
  • Density independent factors
• Density dependent factors


  Shortage and competition for food, disease, predators
• Density independent factors


  Natural disasters (flood, fire, drought) that will happen regardless of the density of organisms
• Levels of biological organisation

  • Organism
  • Population
  • Communities
  • Ecosystems
• Population


  Group of organisms all the same species
• Community


  Multiple populations (species) interacting with each other
• Ecosystem


  Multiple populations (species) interacting with each other and the abiotic parts of the environment
• Kingdoms in the classification system

  • Plants (autotrophs)
  • Animals (heterotrophs)
  • Protists like algae (both)
  • Fungi (nutrition from the breakdown of organic matter)
• Domains of life


  • Eukaryotic (enclosed nucleus)
  • Prokaryotes (nuclear material spread through the cell)
• Organisms in the same order must be in the same class (Phylum, Kingdom)
• Binomial nomenclature


  Homo sapiens
• Factors that limit an ecosystem

  • Abiotic (non-living) - space, temperature, sunlight, minerals
  • Biotic (living) - food, finding mating partners, competition for food
• Phylogenetic tree


  Shows the pattern of evolution (ancestors of current species)
• Types of anatomical structures

  • Homologous structures (same structure but different function)
  • Analogous structures (do not have the same structure but have the same function)
• Homologous structures


  Divergent evolution - species spread out and a new species forms from an ancestor so they are similar structurally
• Analogous structures


  Convergent evolution - move closer together in a similar environment so the variations selected for are similar but do not have similar ancestors
• Variations can become adaptations through sexual reproduction and passing on the genes
• Evolutionary theories


  • Darwin (variations in a population are there at birth, the variations that work the best in the environment will survive and be passed onto offspring)
  • Lamarck (use/disuse of a feature is enhanced over the lifetime and these acquired traits can be passed to offspring)
• Types of speciation


  • Geographical isolation
  • Biological isolation
• Paces of speciation


  • Punctuated equilibrium (fast change to a few new species then a long period of no change)
  • Gradualism (slow and steady change and development of new species)
• Evidence of evolution


  • Biogeography
  • Fossils
  • Genetics
  • Biochemical evidence